‘Get on with it’: patient champion demands epilepsy drug redress

Ministers must begin paying compensation to the families of children disabled by the epilepsy drug sodium valproate by next year, a report will say this week.

The report’s author, Dr Henrietta Hughes, England’s patient safety commissioner, says valproate is “a bigger scandal than thalidomide, in terms of the numbers of people affected”.

She will back calls for financial redress for the thousands of children left physically and mentally disabled. Every month, three babies are still being born who have been exposed to the drug.

Speaking before the report’s launch, Hughes, 54, a GP, said the state had failed pregnant women by not telling them about key information regarding the drug’s risks. “These families have already been betrayed, because they weren’t given the right information to be able to make decisions to keep themselves and their family safe,” she said.

“There are senior politicians of every stripe who have expressed their sincere sympathy and support for patients who have been harmed. I take the view that people who seek high office need to also accept the responsibility that comes with that high office.

“The time for redress is now. The government is responsible. I’ve been asked to give them options for redress and I’ve done that. They have the recommendations, they have the advice, they have everything they need. Get on with it.”

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Source: The Times, February 2024